Playing Catch Up

Life has been so busy, and it feels like it's finally slowing to a pace that I can cope with!

I haven't been a very good blogger lately and am feeling repentant!

In November the boys and I rode with my Mom and Dad to St. George for Thanksgiving. We spent the holiday with Brady and Anna in their lovely home in St. George. My parents, Brady's family, the Boys and I, My sister's family and my cousin Debi were all in attendance.

Ryan had to work late on Wednesday and early on Friday so he couldn't be with us, but he got to spend the holiday with his grandparents and many of his Aunts and Uncles in Chubbuck.
We ate lots of good food, played games, and enjoyed one another's company.
Thursday evening my Dad, Brady and I took the kids to the park to get out some of their wiggles, they all had a great time.

Zander and Tate were good buddies, it's so nice to have a cousin so close to your age!

Oran, my little monster.

Canton spinning round and round until he was too dizzy to stand.

"Mom, look how high we are!"

On Friday morning all of us girls got up at 4:00am and went out CRAZY black Friday shopping, it was my first experience standing in line and being there when the doors opened. It was very exciting!

After we got home from shopping and go a little nap we packed a lunch and headed to Pioneer Park from some exploring. It was way cool!

My brother-in-law Brandon helping Oran and Ady climb the rocks.

Oran walking on the rocks, gee, he's getting big!

Canton in a cave! While we were exploring the Red Rocks at Pioneer Park Grandpa kept saying things like, "...When I used to live here..." meaning in St. George, Canton found this cave and asked, Did Grandpa used to live in THIS cave or was it another one?

Cute Cousins sitting on a rock - we tried, unsuccessfully, to get them to all hold still long enough to have their picture taken - this is as good as it gets!



My Mom and Dad were there too.

Before everyone left we got a picture of Me, My sister and My brother with all of our kids throwing the fall leaves, how festive!
I'm so glad that we were able to go, it's always fun to spend the holidays with people you love!

I busied myself all of December making homemade gifts - which I really enjoyed. I made 2 dresses, 7 crocheted stuffed animals, hats, scarfs, a crocheted table runner, 4 fabric covered notebooks/journals, and popcorn heating pads. I loved having a new sewing machine to work with this year! (I got it for my birthday, THANKS AGAIN RY!)
Our Christmas was the best one yet! It was so fun to see our children so excited about everything. They all understood the Santa Claus thing, and since they saw me making so many gifts they all wanted to make gifts for their friends and for each other (it was cute.)

We wrote letters to Santa Claus and took them to the post office to put them in the special Santa mail box, and because we used the magic mail box Santa wrote back to us!

Our Christmas Eve and Daddy's Birthday dinner.

Canton took a picture of Ryan and I so we could be in a picture too.

On Christmas morning each of our kids were so excited about everything! With each present it was "WOW, look what I got!" or "...Just what I wanted!" It was a very good Christmas.

All of our kids got gloves a hat and snow pants. (We were hoping to be able to play in the snow, but we haven't seen much yet!)

Oh look, I got a new journal! Always love those!

The bat lair was a big hit with all of the boys, I knew it would be, and so did Santa ;)

On Christmas day we went to Preston and spent some time with my Mom and Dad and My Aunt, Uncle and cousins. It was a fun day!

We had great fun ringing in the New Year! This year we planned a little better - Ryan didn't work so we played all day and kept our kids up - They took a nap from 5:00 - 7:00pm and then we went out for some fun.

First we went to our stake New Years Eve -party. This was the second year so it worked a little better than last year. They started earlier and had the "count down" at 9:30 with confetti and balloons. They also had pizza, root beer floats, board games, Karaoke, and dancing.

We all got party hats and noise makers!

Then we went to the first annual New Years Eve cast party at the Mystique; for anyone who was in a play at the Mystique for the entire year of 2009. That party was from 9:30 - 12:30. They had LOTS of food set up buffet style. There was chicken, prime rib, baked potatoes, lasagna, penne, and linguine, with choice of Alfredo or meat sauce, cooked carrots, chips with either 7 layer bean dip, or spinach artichoke dip, and for dessert: pumpkin roll, cheese cake, cream puffs, toffee and chocolate chunk cookies or brownies.

Lisa, the director, and Debbie, the costume lady, gave out silly awards. They had painted colored circles on the stage and set up a huge Twister board, so everyone played Twister. They also had a big blow up dinosaur bouncer that our kids had fun jumping in.

We had a "dance off" where we performed numbers from plays throughout the year. From Millie we did the opening number, "Not for the Life of Me" and the speak easy number, "Nutty Cracker Suite." It was way fun to watch the numbers from Grease, Footloose, Aladdin and White Christmas.

Two of the magicians were there, Farrell Dillon and Jon Armstrong, they did a couple of shows in the Chamber room. My kids thought the magic was cool. Oran thought it was extra neat that Jon was wearing a white shirt, tie and a gray sweater vest - he pointed and shouted, "It's Harry Potter!" Jon didn't seem to think that it was very funny, but I did, and there was definitely a resemblance between his outfit and the Hogwarts school uniforms.

Tate got to help with a card trick.

Farrel was holding something in his hand and he tapped it with his wand - as he did so Canton shouted, "Abracadabra!" everyone in the room laughed, it WAS pretty funny.

We all had sparkling cider, cranberry juice or grape juice in fancy glasses - there was a countdown and we all drank our "fizzy drinks." Ryan and I kissed in the New Year, as is tradition. Then we all danced on the stage. Canton is quite the little dancer. He was picking up on the line dances and danced with all the pretty girls (we thought it was funny.)

Oran had fun dancing too, but the poor little guy kept getting scooped up, danced with and thrown around by all the other cast members - I guess that's the price you pay for being the only 2 year old in a room full of single people.


Tate did some "break dancing" rolling around on the floor and such, but he seemed to enjoy sitting and conversing more. He'd go sit by anyone who was sitting down and start a conversation with them, I'm not sure what all he talked about.


We got home about 10 to 1:00. It was so nice to have kids that were so happy. They were happy to have had a fun time, happy to be home and ready to go to bed. They weren't overly tired, they just seemed content. It was a great way to end 2009, and begin 2010.

I'm so glad that I got the chance to be part of the "Mystique Family." It was awesome!!

Since then my sister came for a visit, we've made a few resolutions, that I'm hoping we'll have more success with in the future than we have in the past 20 days. And We're trying to get back in a routine with Ryan starting a new semester, with a different class schedule, and Tate going to kindergarten.

*Shaking My Fist*

I figure that this is my special place to rant and rave about whatever happens to be bothering me so here I go - Consider yourselves warned!

My husband and I have been casually trying to conceive, figuring that it's 'about that time.' So I've been paying attention and keeping charts and knew that I was pregnant, but something wasn't right. I was experiencing all of the pregnancy signs but I was having pretty intense cramping and occasional light spotting.

I was concerned so I called the midwives office and spoke with the receptionist. She wouldn't even let me tell her what was going on until I had a positive pregnancy test - charts weren't enough proof for her.

I had Ryan pick one up on his way home from class took the test then called her back. "I took the test, it was positive, now will you talk to me!!?" I asked. She took a message and was going to have the nurse call me back - which she did an hour and a half later.

I felt like she didn't even listen to me! I could almost hear her rolling her eyes as she continued to cut me off with statements like, "That's perfectly normal," "Many women experience that," "Everything's fine," "There's no need to worry" and before I could get through my list of ailments she ended the conversation with, "We usually don't see anyone until 8 weeks do you want to make an appointment for the beginning of December?"

The next morning, yesterday, I woke up, my cramps were a lot worse and I was bleeding. I called again and spoke to the same nurse who very simply stated, "It sounds like you're experiencing a miscarriage, I'll have the midwife call you."

I stayed close to the phone and nearly FOUR hours later received a call. They asked me to come in for an ultrasound, which I did. The ultrasound confirmed a miscarriage and that was that.

I know that there is nothing that could have been done to prevent it, BUT I still don't think a woman who has begun miscarrying should be told that everything is "Fine" and that her concerns are unwarranted!

I canceled my appointment in December ;)

Ok - done with my rant.

And I'm back!!

We are slowly regaining use of our desk top computer after being hit with the death computer virus of doom!! By FAR the worst virus I have ever encountered. We'd turn on the computer and it would immediately display an error message saying "Windows will be shutting down in one minute" it would then do a 60 second countdown before turning off.

With my husband's wicked awesome computer skills we eventually had access to all the computer functions EXCEPT the web browsers and internet. However, soon all of our progress was lost. It seemed that this particular computer virus looked for any weakness and broke things down from there - so this smart little bug kept finding new ways to disable our computer.

So after 2 weeks of trying to find a way around it Ryan scrubbed the computer - took everything off and we're starting over from scratch. So I lost all of my bookmarks (kind of sad) and am not yet able to find our pictures (they've got to be here somewhere!!) But I can FINALLY use the computer again.

We have decided that it is for the best that we put passwords on everything and not allow our children to play on the computer unless they have our close supervision.

Thoroughly Modern Millie

So I really don't have any time right now, but wanted to let everyone know who happens to be in and around Pocatello today.
There will be another special tonight!! $10 and a can of food will get you in to see the show. The doors open at 7:45 and the show starts at 8:00. The Mystique Theatre is just off Chubbuck road in Chubbuck, ID.

Last night's performance was phenomenal! I love when we have a good audience that laughs and cheers. It makes us WANT to ham it up a bit - give 'em a good show!
So we'd love to pack the seats tonight, so come, especially if you're good at cheering and laughing!

Jib Jab Halloween

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Tate wanted to be the "mad scientist!" The boys and I have watched it over and over again - it makes us all laugh - especially 'daddy's funny face.'

Hello??

Is any body out there?

It's been so long since my last post that I hardly know where to start!
Since then we took a trip to Powell, Wyoming to spend some time with family. We also went camping and fishing in the Bighorn Mountains, it was beautiful!

We've been enjoying produce from our garden! We planted and watered it ourselves!

In August we had a Green Family reunion in Pocatello, and a White Family Reunion in Provo. We had fun at both. We celebrated Canton's 4th birthday, Tate started kindergarten and loves riding the bus, and I tried out for a play at the Mystique Dinner Theatre in Chubbuck. I Made it! I will be in "Throughly Modern Millie" playing the part of Lucille, one of the girls staying at the Hotel Pricilla. The play opens October 8 and runs every Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night until November 14 (with the exception of Oct. 30 and 31 - there will be a spook alley instead.)

I've been busy with rehearsals every night - and have decided I many be a bit old to be out dancing every night. I come home with tender feet and pain everywhere imaginable and crawl right into bed, occasionally too exhausted to brush my teeth.

Tonight happens to be one of those rare occasions when I'm not needed on stage. I'm glad that I'm not in EVERY scene!

I'll have to find some pictures some other time, but for now, I just wanted you all to know that we are still here, and all is well, although it's chaotic!

(I posted about Canton's birthday - See below)

About a Birthday

I'm a little slow, I'm behind and trying to play catch-up.

But I wanted to tell you all about Canton's birthday!

I'd been feeling sick for about a month and never really got around to planning a party for Canton. I felt bad about it, but I think we had a great time anyway - Here's what we did:

Ryan had to be to work at 8:00am so he got up early and made special Birthday Waffles. We ate waffles with homemade raspberry syrup (that Ryan also made that morning,) redi-whip and a cherry on top.

The kids watched some PBS kids and played for a while and then we packed a lunch and walked to the park. We ate our lunch and played on the toys before walking home and taking a nap.

After nap time we put on our swim-suits and played in the sprinkler. Canton loves playing in the water and I don't let him do it much so it was great fun! We filled an empty Rubbermaid tote with water and they played in that like a little swimming pool, ran through the sprinkler and eventually Canton picked up the sprinkler and started chasing each of us with it!

After a couple of hours of that I asked Canton what he wanted to do - we wanted to go inside and "take a bath" he was all wet and cold and covered in mud and muck. So I took the boys inside to take a bath. While we were doing that Ryan went and got Canton's requested Birthday dinner - hamburgers from McDonald's. We spread out a blanket on the living room floor and watched a movie. Ryan rented "Dragonball Evolution" we all really liked it, yes, me included. Although it was based on an anime cartoon series it was a live action movie and pretty fun. (Especially for the super hero fans in our house.)

Then Canton got to open a present - he got the "really cool watch" he'd asked for.

The next day we went to the Premier Properties Customer Appreciation Party at Upper Ross Park. They had food, an AWESOME live band, face painting, blowup toys and the Century High School cheerleaders did dances or cheers every half hour or so.
The Band sang "Happy Birthday" to Canton. He was in awe over that and said, "Everyone here knows me, they all sang to me!"
Before we left Gail [Bishard] came and gave Canton a hug. As she did she whispered "This is all for you! What an awesome birthday party!" He was so happy!

We went home and while the boys napped I made a birthday cake. Canton asked for a Superman cake so I did my best. Grandpa Green (Don) came to wish Canton a happy birthday and bring him a birthday card. And then we took the cake and some ice cream to the Bakes' house.

They weren't quite home yet when we got there so we played in the yard for a while. Then we lit the candles, sang Happy Birthday and opened presents. The Bakes' gave Canton a really cool dragon and a little "knight in shining armor," and Tate made a book for Canton with drawings of super heroes.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I thought it was a good birthday even if not very well planned! And most importantly I think that Canton had fun and felt special.

And some pictures!

Blog Posts are so much more exciting with pictures!
Here are the pictures to go with the previous post. Silly, I know - but pretend I did it all at once and you'll never know the difference ;)

All of the boxes, once full of "Stuff."

Oh, that's SO much better!! Rubbermaids are great!

The Fourth of July Parade in Lewiston, UT.
(We were all squinting into the sun)

Oran got sad when we wouldn't let him eat ALL of the candy "NOW!!"

Canton, all ready to float down the river.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Our new washing machine! "Ooo, Ahh"

Don't worry, we're still alive

I know, I know, I REALLY need to update my blog! But don't get too excited - I don't have time right now :p

We've been SO busy the last little while. With Idaho's "Monsoon Season" causing severe flooding, and mud slides in parts of eastern Idaho - we were not spared from all damages.
Our basement flooded, we spent a day hauling out all the soggy card board boxes and drying out out belongings. We spent the next THREE days seperating them into piles of "DI" "Garbage" "Store" and "Keep out."

Our basement now has neatly stacked, labled, rubbermaid containers - but we still have all these misplaced belongings that have yet to find a home.

Our washing machine broke - it's been having problems since the end of April - and it finally quit completely on us. We took it to a repair place which told us the cost of repairs would be approximately $375 - which is about what we paid for it new.

We decided we couldn't survive long without a washing machince - since we were already at the end of our clean clothes - so we went to Lowe's and bought a new one - it is my new best friend.

That morning Oran, who we are trying to potty train, decided to take off his poopy diaper by himself. Instead of coming to wake us up he took it off, and left it in the middle of the living room floor where it appears to have been walked on and spread all over the carpet, the couch, up the walls and all over out two youngest children.

So, as long as we were at Lowe's we bought a carpet cleaner/extractor - We cleaned up the poo mess once we got home - but since then have had to clean up more poo and some vomit, so we're pretty happy about that purchase too.

We went to Preston on the Fourth. We went to the parade in Lewiston, UT. Floated down the river in the Onieda narrows, and had a cook-out at my parent's house. We made it back to Pocatello in time to see the fireworks, but our kids were exhausted, and no matter how we tried we could not wake them.

We parked at the top of a hill in Chubbuck, turned the radio to KORR 104 and saw a FANTASTIC display syncornized with patriotic music. I loved it!!

We are planning a trip to Wyoming later this week - and I have so much to do before we leave Friday morning!! AHH!!!

And I am out of time, so I'll just have to save the pictures for later... Sorry.

A Tribute

The King of Pop dead at the age of 50

I'm sure that I was not the only one who was surprised by the news. Michael Jackson died of a heart attack around 2:30 pm on Thursday, June 25, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.

"Michael Jackson, called the King of Pop, has died suddenly in Los Angeles at the age of 50. The singer was rushed to hospital Thursday, where doctors pronounced him dead...

Michael Jackson was born in 1958, the seventh of nine children, and he first found fame as a singer and dancer in the family pop group The Jackson 5. He outshone his siblings and by age eight, was the star of the group, thrilling audiences with favorites like ABC. In his later solo career, Jackson became a superstar. His 1982 album "Thriller," with its blockbuster hits "Beat It" and ''Billie Jean" was the biggest-selling album of all time. That year, he first performed his trademark moonwalk dance, gliding backwards while appearing to walk forward. The singer pioneered the music video genre, and arguably became the world's top musical performer...

He was scheduled to begin a series of 50 comeback concerts in London. The first was set for July 13th, and they were to continue until next March. Tickets for the shows, offered in March, sold out in minutes..." - http://english.chosun.com/

After political controversy and allocations, of which he was later acquitted, Michael Jackson's reputation was forever tarnished. The legal battles left him in financial ruin, and despite his fame, he died millions of dollar in debt.
He was a troubled and misunderstood individual, but no one can deny his contribution to our culture. He was a musical genius, a choreography master, and a fashion icon.
Rest in Peace Michael, may you now make peace with your demons.

The Early Years







Music Videos

Billy Jean, Beat It, Thriller, Heal the World, Ghost

Very Michael Dance Moves

"They Don't Really Care About Us"
Prison Jam

Will You be There?

And let's finish off with a mix:

What's With This Wacky Weather!?

It is June and we've had rain EVERY day for two weeks! It feels more like we live in Washington or Oregon instead of southeast Idaho! It's so dreary and dizzily and even during the breaks in the clouds and the fleeting hours of sunshine the air is heavy with humidity. We go to bed at night and even our sheets feel damp!
Our yard is yellowing from too much water, our yard is infested with mushrooms and our poor garden is flooded.
We've only been able to make it to the park for the free summer lunch program a few times. Yesterday it was cloudy and over cast but not actually raining at noon So we grabbed our jackets and headed to the park. He got our sack lunches, had just sat down at a picnic table and he hear thunder and it started to pour, it was hailing before we made it back to the car. As soon as Tate heard thunder he started shoving his food back into his paper bag and started booking it for the car calling behind him in a panicked voice "I don't want to be hit by lightening!"
The night before on the news there was a story of a little boy who had been camping with his family, had been stuck by lightening and died (maybe I shouldn't watch the 5:00 news with my kids around!)

BUT we have had some close encounters with lightening lately, that might have added to Tate's anxiety about lightning.

On Sunday, May 31, one of our first thunderstorms of this rainy stretch. Ryan, the boys and I were sitting on the porch watching the lightening and listening to the rolling o the thunder. The rain got heavier and heavier and we decided to go inside and eat dinner.

I had dished up plates - the boys and I had just sat down to eat, and Ryan was standing at the kitchen sink looking out the window when there was a huge crack - a surge of energy went through us and all went dark.

The view from our driveway

Lightning had struck the transformer in the alley just behind our house - shattering the rod across the top and splintering the pole all the way to the ground. It took a while to calm Oran down - he was quite distraught!

Ryan called Idaho Power - ISU's Public Safety was the first to arrive. The two guys said they had been up at the Holt Arena when they saw the lightening followed by a fireball, then the shock wave hit them and everything electrical in their vehicle went dead. It must have sent out an EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse.)
Ryan gathered up some of the splintered, chared wood for a souvenier. Next the fire engines came - it was pretty tough to convince our kids to get their PJs on with all of the excitement. Oran kept trying to turn things of, the lightswitches, TV, VCR, DVD player, computer - but nothing would turn on! He kept saying "Doesn't Work!!" and "Broken!" He was pretty upset about it - but I got them to go to sleep once it was too dark to see anything.
Eventually the Power guys showed up to fix everything. Ryan wanted to stay up until the power came back on; to make sure that nothing was permanently damages, so I lit some candles and we waited. The lightening struck around 7:00pm and we didn't get power back until nearly 11:30pm. Exciting!

Temple Open House

I was just on lds.org and found out that there is a Temple Open House starting tomorrow!!

It's so exciting that so many temple are being built and that there have been so many open houses and dedications in the last few years. We had had plans to attend both the Rexburg Temple Open House and the Twin Falls Temple Open House but didn't actually make it to either. So I would REALLY like to go this time.

Many of my friends with children the same ages as ours have gone and told us how much their kids enjoyed it and how very neat they thought it was. I had been worried about how my children would behave, but I think it would be a neat thing for them.

It's always great when you can attend a temple open house, especially for children and others that wouldn't normally be able to see the inside of a temple. When I was younger I was able to go to the open houses for the Bountiful, UT temple, the Mount Timpangous, UT temple and the Billings, MT temple, those were all wonderful experiences that I still cherish.

For all who, like me, would like to participate. Here is the information:

The open house starts tomorrow, Monday, June 1, and goes through Saturday, August 1, 2009, except for Sundays and July 4 (Saturday) and July 24 (Friday).

You can get tickets or make reservations by contacting the reservation call center at 1-800-521-5105, 801-240-7645, or online at www.lds.org/reservations.

Here are some pictures of the construction, just for fun:
http://www.lds.org/temples/construction/0,11437,1940-1-597-0,00.html

And if you're not sure where it is, here is the location and directions information:
http://www.lds.org/temples/location/1,11219,1922-1-597-0,00.html

Preschool Programs

I can't believe that it's already the end of the school year already!!!
Tate's preschool put on a play - The morning class performed "Peter and the Wolf" and the afternoon class, Tate's class, performed "The Golden Goose."
Tate was the parson.

Here is a silly little clip. Preschoolers are kind of funny. (Ryan started recording once Tate came in.) I love the little "superhero" pose at the end. BUT I think the best part was the bow and we missed that one with the camera.



Canton's class had a little program for their last day of school, on Thursday.
It was kind of cute: here's my favorite video clip from his program:



I think my kids are cute.

Birthday Celebrations

We had two different birthday celebrations for Tate. On Saturday we went to Ammon Park and launched bottle rockets - all of the Bakes except Wes came and brought a bottle launcher so we had two!

Here Tate's decorating his rocket to send into orbit.

Decorating rockets and eating chips.

Oran and Ryan using the bicycle pump, and their big muscles to launch a rocket.

Tate got some "real rockets" like the ones the astronauts fly in.

We wore Oran out!!

I brought him in from the car and laid him on the couch and even all our loud noises didn't wake him.

See his clothes are all wet from the water in the rockets.
______________________________________________

On Sunday we invited everyone over for cake, ice cream and visiting. The Bakes came and so did Grandma and Grandpa White. It was very nice.

Iron Man in the making: Ryan was super awesome and painted fondant to look like Iron Man.

Ever since we finished the Spiderman party last year Tate's been insisting on an Iron Man cake - so Ryan made it happen!

Here is the cake all finished

Pretty awesome!

Tate and Matt at the table. Tate got the first piece of cake, of course, 'cause he's the birthday boy!

Oh poor baby with scars on his face - but he's still pretty stinkin' cute!

Tate is being silly. Can you believe he's FIVE!!?
_______________________________________

On Tuesday I took birthday treats to Tate's preschool and talked all about his life on Earth and different things he's learned and done since he got here. When I heard how Ms. Kris did birthdays I thought it was kind of weird - but I thought it was actually neat! I brought a picture from each year (birth - 1, 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, and 4-5) and told some things he did each year I liked looking in Tate's scrap book and my journals to find interesting things to say - I like to remember.

And those were the birthday things we did.

Mother's Day at Church

Canton gave a talk today in Primary. I helped, of course. He spoke about Heleman's 2000 stripling warriors and about how their Mom's taught them to have faith and to trust in God. He was super cute. We'd practiced at home, but he didn't want much help, so he kept improvising. "And they were really strong, and they had swords, and they killed the bad guys...." eventually we got back to 'because of their faith none of them died,' and that our Mommy's teach us and want us to be good. So, we should be good "so our Mommies are happy and sing songs and don't spank our bums."
I decided that it was good that not everyone in the room could understand everything he was saying. Sunbeams are great!

The Primary put together these really cute books for the Moms. They asked all of the kids a set of questions, wrote down their answers and gave them to us today. Some of their answers were pretty funny, here are some of my favorites:

What is your Mom's favorite thing to eat?
Canton - Macaroni and cheese
Tate - Cereal

How old is your Mom?
Canton - her birthday's tomorrow
Tate - 25, 8-5 months ago
(I am 25 years and 7 months, I thought that was way funny.)

If your Mom could go on vacation anywhere where would she go?
Canton - to the park
Tate - Camping
Michael - on a trip
Briana - to K-mart
(I thought those answers were cute too so I threw them in)

What is you Mom's favorite book?
Canton - "My Friend Rabbit" (more like HIS favorite book!)
Tate - the scriptures
Angie - she doesn't have any books

What's your Mom's favorite TV show?
Canton - Veggie Tales
Tate - the news

What does your Mom like to do to relax?
Canton - lay down
Tate - take walks
Anna - do the dishes (that's relaxing!?)
Cody - talk with Daddy

My mom looks pretty when....
Canton - Mommy looks pretty all night and all day
Tate - she goes to church
Alex - she sleeps (AWE...)

I love my Mom because....
Canton - 'cuz I love her
Jordyn - because I love my sister, and my mom's being pregnant again
Kaylee - cuz' she's sweet
Paige - she is good at telling me what to do
Molly - she gets me my food
Tate - she gives me hugs
Parker - cuz' she do that for me (TOO CUTE!)
Aftyn - she plays with me
Cody - she's pretty nice
Briana - she's special to me (I LOVE IT!)
Dallas - Love?
Daytona - she is FULLY AWESOME
-------------------------

Ok, I got a little carried away, but I thought it was just SO cute!

In sacrament meeting the primary children got up and sang "I Often go Walking" and "Mother, I love You" it seemed like Canton had a solo as he smiled, pointed to me and proudly belted the first "Mother, I love you" all by himself.
I asked about it when we got home and Tate said that they were supposed to sing it that way, just the sunbeams first for "Mother, I love you..." then the CTRs came in on "...mother I do..." each line gaining a new row of kids (then it made sinse!) But this is how he told me:

"... first the Sunbeams, then the CTRs, and then the Violents... " I couldn't help but laugh as I told him it was the "Valiants" not the "Violents"

Kids are cute!
Now they are napping - I think I'll do that too.
Ryan is working today, but he got dinner in the crock pot, so I guess I don't need to worry about it! Yea for Mother's Day! Have a happy one!

What a Weekend!

Friday we had Gavin and Callie's kids come and play. We made cheerio necklaces and then had a popcorn and movie party. We watched "Charlotte's Web" the boys and I picked it out at the library.
Then they all colored pictures while I made lunch. Our table is not designed for big families! We had four on each side (if you count me) so we sat extra close to eat our food.
After lunch we usually take a nap so we had a bunch of grouchy, antsy kids who were running up and down the hall (if you can call it a hall) from the front door to Tate and Canton's bunk bed and back. After a few of them got run over I decided to take them somewhere that they could run!
We all went on a walk to Centennial Park - where they were able to get out a lot of their wiggles. But we learned some new things about big kids AND little kids playing on the same playground. Dawsey and Rannon spun the merry-go-round very fast - Brigham and Duncan thought it was great fun and were laughing!! But Canton wanted to get off, instead of asking them to stop he just walked off (while it was spinning.) Ouch!
Then Tate was sitting opposite Rannon on the wooden horse thing - got bucked off and hit his head on the metal saddle.
Brigham and Canton had each taken off one sock, filled it with sand and were beating each other with them (Brigham said they were their "clubs") I was breaking that up when Oran walked in front of Rannon's swing. He got knocked down and drug in the sand - Dawsey was so great and gathered him up and comforted him until I could get there.
He was all bloody - and his mouth and nose were all full of sand and rocks. It was so sad. I tried to clean him up a bit in the drinking fountain at the park and then we walked home.
Gavin and Callie got there about the same time we did.
I spent all night (until about 1am) doing laundry and getting us all packed for our trip to Utah.

Saturday morning there was a free community breakfast, put on my the Lion's club, at the old town pavilion. We went there around 8am and had pancakes and link sausage - we each had orange juice to drink. A man and his son came and sat by us. The man had coffee in his cup Oran was pretty funny. He saw the steam coming off the cup and said "Oh, HOT Juice!" then he blew again and again (I guess trying to cool it off for him) then the man took a drink and Oran scream, "NO!! HOT!! OUCH!!" the man was a little surprised!
Saturday was also the opening day of the farmers market - right next to where we had breakfast. After we finished eating we looked around at all the neat things. We saw vases made out of gourds, and goblets carved out of solid pieces of mahogany, pottery thrown on a wheel, fired and glazed in magnificent colors - and, of course, plants! Tomato, red pepper, green pepper, cucumber - and all kinds of trees and flowers. This year they've invited flea market vendors to participate also (to make it a bigger event) so we saw a lot of antiques, books, and things with pealing paint and rust!
It started to rain, but we didn't mind.
We went home and found our coats and our favorite stuffed friends and headed to the hospital for the 28th annual teddy bear clinic. There were Shriner's Clowns making balloon animals! "Space" "Hippo" and "Squirrel" were all admitted, had their blood pressure taken, received casts, x-rays, and surgery! we visited the cafeteria for cookies and milk and then we came home for lunch. (We didn't watch the puppet show or have our faces painted - the line was too long and we were getting grouchy!)
After lunch we packed the car and hit the road (in the rain!) It was 1:00 when we left, we wore the kids out good so they all slept until we got to Salt Lake!

We ate dinner with Rob and Hillori, their kids and Barb (her flight got in to SLC at 7:45am) at Rob and Hillori's home in Mapelton. Then we all went to the Jr. High for Audrey's ballet recital. It was cute - lots of little girls in leotards and tutus. Oran loved it! He conducted the music, bounced up and down and clapped louder than anyone else, and kept yelling "YEA!!" Canton got bored and Tate was sad that he couldn't see better.
After the kids were in bed Ryan and I had fun "playing" with Rob and Hillori as they got all of the food ready for the next day. Barbara and I went to the grocery store to pick up a few last minute things (I don't like driving in an unfamiliar place in the dark, but Barbara is a great navigator and we had fun on our little outing to the store - without any children!)

Sunday was kind of crazy! We were glad that we all got ready for church before the crowds arrived! LOTS of people! LOTS of kids! We were so glad that it was a beautiful day and they could all play outside!
Grandma and Grandpa Green came with Lisa's son Colton. Grandma Stavast also came with Barb's brother Jim, and his wife Peggy, Auntie Gladys, Uncle Dean, and Auntie Ellenor. A lot of Hillori's family was there too - I had a hard time figuring out who was connected to who and how - I don't think I met them all.
The blessing was beautiful, Rob did a wonderful job. Rob, Hillori, and Barbara were all among those who bore their testimonies. It was a very nice meeting.
Sunday was also Barbara's birthday so we sang to her and had cake, lots and lots of cake.
We decided to stay another night - it was nice to have some more time with the Greens after everyone else was gone. We had a nice visit with Barbara. I got to hold Baby Elise a lot (she liked me lots and didn't cry at me at all. So I got to keep her for hours and hours!) It made Oran mad on Saturday, but on Sunday I let him see her and hold her hands and look at her toes, then it was OK for me to hold her. Canton wanted to hold her so I helped him - he was so sweet and held her so nice.
Lucy was my friend too! She is the cutest little girl! She has red hair and dimples and is ALWAYS smiling - she is only a few months older than Oran (she turned 2 in February.)



I'm an AUNT!!
I love having nieces and nephews!!

Elise had such a pretty blessing dress! This was at the end of the day after everyone else had left and she was still spotless clean! I was impressed!

It's been a while...

I know, I know, I've been slacking off in the world of blogging!
We've been busy busy!

This last weekend we went to stay with Ryan's brother Rob and his family. While there Hillori informed me that she keeps checking my blog and is disappointed to see nothing new. Gee I never knew... now I'll feel all kinds of pressure (not wanting to disappointing!) j/k

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My baby is 2!!

I can't believe it's been TWO whole years since I was pregnant last! It has gone by so very fast. We had fun celebrating Oran's birthday. He's been such a great addition to our family and we all love him SO much!Our first fun celebration was the day before his birthday when the boys and I went to Preston to visit my parents. We played games and sang "Happy Birthday" it was fun!

For breakfast on Oran's birthday we had waffles topped with whipped topping and cherry pie filling - yum, yum!
For dinner we had baked potatoes [w/ a choice of toppings] Oran's favorite!

"Tatoes!? Tatoes!!"

We let him have the last juice box, 'cause he was the birthday boy!

Then we had cupcakes! Oran is saying "CAKE!!"

Ryan helped Oran read his birthday cards, He got one from Great Grandma Green and another one from Great Grandma Grant!

It was a good birthday for a good boy!

(More later, there's much to do)

Crazy Saturday!

Yesterday was a busy day for us. We can go weeks with blank squares on the calender and then we get a day like yesterday, when everything lands on the VERY SAME DAY!
I had originally planned to go to Preston - it was the weekend of the annual Franklin County Medical Center Health and Wellness Expo. That was to be held from 8am to Noon. Then there was a Vintage Fashion Show at the Worm Creek Opera House at 3:00, the proceeds of which went to remodeling the Oneida Stake Academy (one of my pet projects)
That's not all! - In the evening was the Preston High School Ballroom Dance Concert (I thought it would be fun to go, since I was once on that team.)

BUT as more and more things crowded my schedule here in Pocatello - my plan of heading south quickly changed.
So here is what we did yesterday - in our CRAZY BUSY day!

I attended a couponing class at the Chubbuck Public Library from 10 - 11. I was surprised at how many people were there - about 60. This lady, a young mother on a tight budget, started using the website pinchingyourpennies.com only 3 months ago, in January, and has since mastered the system and has been saving hundreds of dollars on her grocery bill every month since. She's so excited about it that she's been holding these free classes teaching others to do the same.
It was AMAZING - I'm super impressed and am going to try... If any one is interested her next class will be May 23 @10am @ the Chubbuck Public Library.
Ryan had to work Saturday morning so a lady in our ward agreed to watch the boys while I went to the class. So I took them there around 9:30 - they played outside until I got there around 11:30 to get them.

We then dashed home so everyone could use the potty before dashing off again.
Our next adventure of the day was a birthday party of a little girl in Canton's preschool class. The party was at "Randy's Tumbling and Extreme Fun" in Chubbuck, across from Geraldine's Bake Shoppe and Deli, from 12- 2pm. [I took these pictures on my cell phone so they are not so awesome -it's not good at action shots at all!]
It was a really fun party and I had a blast, as well as the kids. It was fun to have so much room to run and jump and play. I think Canton would really like being in gymnastics. He had fun jumping on the trampoline, diving into the pit with the spongy blocks, and doing somersaults one after another until he was too dizzy to stand.
I was involved in gymnastics when I was younger. So I played on the blue springy floor. I did lots of cart wheels, round offs, back hand springs, and hand stands while all the little kids "Ooed" and "Ahhed." It was fun for me - but my arms are a little sore today...We had pizza and cake after we were done playing.


We then hurried home to squeeze in a nap before we had to dash off again. Once my exhausted kids were sleeping I hurried around the house clean it as quickly as possible (I was quite impressed - I guess I can get a lot done if I really put my mind to it.) I started vacuuming at 3:30 which, as I had hoped, woke my sleeping children and we got ready to leave AGAIN!

Our next engagement was yet ANOTHER birthday party. This one for a little boy who's the same age as Tate. Their family used to live in an apartment in our ward. They have since bought a house across town, but we've kept in touch.

His party was a bowling party at "Pine Bowl" from 4-6pm. It was all kinds of craziness - and I now have the opinion that bowling parties should be for no one under 8 years old! It was dark, there was a black light, but it was far too difficult to keep track of small children in the dim lighting.
Then there were a bunch of 3, 4, and 5 year olds trying to bowl! We had pinched fingers, smashed toes, and Canton kept stepping over the line as he attempted to send his ball down the alley - this causing him to slip and fall down. He was rubbing his bottom and with a pouty face said, "Kiss my bum, Mom, it weally hurtz!" I didn't do it.


The music was REALLY loud, we all had to shout just to hear each other and be heard, and the music wasn't very wholesome. So I was in a dim lit, smelly bowling alley, blaring swear words and alternative life styles, trying to keep track of my kids. I was not having so much fun. Another mother there went to ask if they could change the station or at least turn it down, they were very rude to her and refused to change the music in any way.


Things got a little better when we all sat down to eat. We had yet another meal of pizza and birthday cake. My children weren't so excited about that, but I didn't care if they didn't eat it. Ryan met us there after he got off of work. He helped Tate bowl a couple more times and then we went home.

We had 20 minutes to change before even more excitement. I was sure glad I cleaned up earlier. My Aunt had some extra tickets for "Power in His Touch" at the Steven's Performing Arts Center. Ryan went to get her son so he could watch our kids while we went.
It was my favorite part of the day! It was a musical performance about repentance and the healing power of the atonement. It was very well done and gave me a different perspective than I had seen before.
Ryan and I both really enjoyed the music so we bought the sound track after the show - he figured we could buy the CD when we hadn't had to pay for the tickets (Thanks Bonnie!) The writer was there so we had her sign it.
So we ended on a good note. It had been far too long since our last date night.

My cousin took such good care of our kids!
This morning the boys were telling me all about it! "Kyle fought the monsters in the dark and defeated them!" "Kyle said if we sleep all night our muscles will get big and strong like his," "Look, my muscles are already BIGGER!!!" I think Kyle's pretty awesome :)

We got home around 10:00 last night - then I prepared a Primary lesson, for today, before heading to bed. It was a VERY long day!

Easter Reflection

I love this time of year. The grass is turning green, flowers are pushing their way through the ground and the trees are budding. It's a time of new beginning; everything is so fresh and new, but my favorite part about spring is celebrating Easter.
I try to maintain a Christ centered life, but will admit that I get side tracked occasionally. I love how at this time of year we have some extra time to reflect on our Savior: His life, ministry, the atonement and resurrection.


I love all the feelings and emotions that come with such reflection. We are all so blessed! We have been given an AMAZING gift! Hope - if nothing else. The hope that it gives each of us; that this life is not all there is, that Jesus Christ, our older brother, our Savior and Redeemer, has atoned for our sins. He has over come death and because of that we will ALL be resurrected.
Not only will our body be reunited with our spirit, but that body will be made whole and perfect! No more handicaps, disabilities or pain! What an amazing thing we have been promised!

Today in church Joyce and Jeff Underwood were our speakers. I don't know how many of you know the Underwoods or their story - but it was a very special meeting. In the summer of 1993 Joyce and Jeff's 11-year-old daughter was abducted, raped and murdered - it's a very sad story and I can't imagine what it would be like to endure such a horrific ordeal.
Sister Underwood began by asking "How many of you have ever lost a child?" My first thought, knowing their back ground, was 'No - not like you have.' But then she clarified "...even if only for a few minutes..." which I have done. It's frightening not to know where your children are, what they are doing or if they're OK.
I always have to chuckle a bit when I hear the story of the 12 year old Jesus being left in Jerusalem after the feast of the pass-over. 'Where's Jesus?' 'You don't have him?' 'I thought he was with you.' But I'm sure that Mary and Joseph felt awful! They, of course, were able to find their son, whole and unharmed, and even conversing with doctors and scholars at the temple. Jeff and Joyce were not so lucky. But because of the atonement they will be with their daughter again.
Joyce shared the experience she had in the temple while doing Jeralee's work; '... that she is busy with a great work on the other side; that she is well and happy...'
What a great thing the gospel is! In a situation like theirs it would be hard for anyone not to become hardened and bitter. But because of their faith this amazing family has pulled together and moved past this awful experience, and can look forward to the day when they will all be together again.

I am so thankful for my Savior. I know that he suffered and atoned for my sins - and that only through him can I repent and be made whole.
I am so thankful to be living on the Earth today and am so glad that I have the gospel in my life.
I am thankful for loving parents who taught me the truths of the gospel, have answered my questions, and given me the opportunity to learn, to grow, and to decide for myself if these things are true.
I love my Savior - and am eternally grateful for his sacrifice and for the merciful plan of happiness.
I know I am a daughter of God. I have divine potential and my Heavenly Father loves me!

I hope each of you are able to enjoy this Easter holiday and this beautiful time of year!!

The Funny of the day

I plan to come back and write some more: but there is much to be done!
So here is a clip to make you all laugh -
This is just how I feel most days! Hillary Weeks hit it right on ;) here is:

"To Do List"